The Atlantic explains how ‘The Last Jedi’ is about spirituality, not religion

Gwendoline Christie and John Boyega in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” flipped the script on the Force and its religious connotations.

The Atlantic’s Chaim Saiman wrote this week that most Star Wars films have a theological belief system that’s not unlike a religion. Mastering the Force and becoming a Jedi requires devotion and understanding of an ancient wisdom.

But legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker flips the script in the recent blockbuster “The Last Jedi.”

The older Luke “presents a more modern take on theology that accords with the ‘spiritual but not religious’ trend that finds younger Americans to be less interested in organized faith but more open to spiritual experiences. Rather than being brought into the tradition, Rey, Luke’s would-be trainee, must find the Force within herself,” Saiman wrote.

Moreover, the film changed the Force from being a power mastered through rigorous training by those with a particular bloodline to one that anyone can access.

“But in some ways this turn of events is hardly surprising: If many religious narratives are bound up in anticipating a chosen one, others teach that spiritual leadership can emerge from the least likely of places,” according to Saiman.